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首页 » 经典英文小说 » The Story of the Gravelys » CHAPTER XVI. BERTY’S TRAMP
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CHAPTER XVI. BERTY’S TRAMP
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Berty was away out on the lonely road leading from the iron works to the city.

Grandma had not been well all day, and Berty had gone to ask Bonny to spend the night in the River Street house. Since the boy’s admission into Roger’s office he had virtually lived in Roger’s house.

Not that he loved Margaretta and Roger more than he loved his grandmother and Berty, but the Grand Avenue style of living was more in accord with his aristocratic tastes than the plain ways of the house in River Street. So the boy really had two homes.

Berty, who had been in the house with her grandmother all through the morning, had enjoyed the long walk out to the iron works, and was now enjoying the long walk home.

It was a perfect afternoon. “How I love the[189] late summer,” murmured the girl, and she gazed admiringly about her at the ripening1 grain fields, the heavily foliaged trees, the tufts of goldenrod flowering beside the dusty road.

Away off there in the distance was a moving cloud of dust coming from the city. Nearer at hand, it resolved itself into a man who was shuffling2 along in a lazy way, and kicking up very much more dust than there was any necessity of doing.

Berty stared at him. She knew most of the citizens of Riverport by sight, and whether she knew them by sight or not, she could tell by their general appearance whether they belonged to the place.

This man was a stranger—a seedy, poor-looking man with a brown face, and he was observing her as intently as she was observing him.

Arrived opposite her, he stopped. “Lady,” he said, in a whining3 voice, “please give a poor sick man some money to buy medicine.”

“What’s the matter with you?” she asked, promptly4.

“An awful internal trouble, lady,” he said, laying his hand on his side. “Intermittent pains come on every evening at this time.”

“You don’t look ill,” replied Berty, suspiciously. “Your face is as bronzed as a sailor’s.”

[190]

“The doctors prescribed outdoor air, lady,” he went on, whiningly5.

“I haven’t any money for you.”

The man, from his station in the road, looked back toward the city, then forward in the direction of the iron works. There was not a soul in sight, and as quick as a flash an angry sentence sprang to the girl’s lips, “Let me by.”

“But, lady, I want some money,” he said, persistently6, and he stood in her way.

She surveyed him contemptuously. “You want to make me give you some, but I tell you you couldn’t do it.”

“Couldn’t I, lady?” he replied, half-sneeringly, half-admiringly.

“No,” said Berty, promptly, “because, in the first place, I’d be so mad that you couldn’t get it from me. You’re only a little man, and I guess a gymnasium-trained girl like myself could knock you about considerably7. Then look here,” and, stepping back, she suddenly flashed something long and sharp and steely from her head. “Do you see that hat-pin? It would sting you like a wasp,” and she stabbed the air with it.

The man snickered. “You’ve plenty of sand, but I guess I could get your purse if I tried.”

[191]

“Oh, how angry you make me,” returned the girl, with a fiery8 glance. “Now I can understand how one can let oneself be killed for an idea. You might possibly overcome me, you might get my purse, but you couldn’t kill the mad in me if you chopped me in a thousand little pieces.”

“Lady,” said the man, teasingly, “I guess you’d give in before then, though I’ve no doubt but what your temper would carry you considerable far.”

“And suppose you got my purse,” said Berty, haughtily9, “what good would it do you? Wouldn’t I scream? I’ve got a voice like a steam-whistle; and the iron works close in five minutes, and this road will be alive with good honest workmen. They’d hunt you down like a rabbit.”

For the first time a shade of uneasiness passed over his face. But he speedily became cool. “Good evening, lady, excuse me for frightening you,” and, pulling at his battered10 hat, he started to pass on.

“Stop!” said Berty, commandingly, “who are you, and why did you come to Riverport?”

He lazily propped11 himself against a tree by the roadside. “It was in my line of march.”

“Are you a tramp?”

“Well, yes, I suppose I am.”

“Where were you born?”

[192]

“In New Hampshire.”

“You weren’t born a tramp?”

“Great Harry12!” muttered the man, taking off his hat and pushing back from his forehead the dark hair sprinkled with gray, “it seems a hundred years since I was born. My father was a well-to-do farmer, young lady, if you want to know, and he gave me a good education.”

“A good education,” repeated Berty, “and now you have sunk so low as to stop women and beg for money.”

“Just that low,” he said, indifferently, “and from a greater height than you think.”

“What was the height?” asked Berty, eagerly.

“I was once a physician in Boston,” he returned, with a miserable13 remnant of pride.

“You a physician!” exclaimed Berty, “and now a tramp!”

“A tramp pure and simple.”

“What made you give up your profession?”

“Well, I was born lazy, and then I drank, and I drink, and I always shall drink.”

“A drunkard!” murmured Berty, pityingly. “Poor fellow!”

The man looked at her curiously14.

“How old are you?” she asked, suddenly.

[193]

“Forty-five.”

“Have you tried to reform?”

“Formerly—not now.”

“Oh, how queer people are,” said the girl, musingly15. “How little I can understand you. How little you can understand me. Now if I could only get inside your mind, and know what you are thinking about.”

“I’m thinking about my supper, lady,” he said, flippantly; then, as she looked carefully at him, he went on, carelessly, “Once I was young like you. Now I don’t go in for sentiment. I feed and sleep. That’s all I care about.”

“And do you do no work?”

“Not a stroke.”

“And you have no money?”

“Not a cent.”

“But how do you live?”

“Off good people like you,” he said, wheedlingly16. “You’re going to give me a hot supper, I guess.”

“Follow me,” said Berty, suddenly setting off toward the city, and the man sauntered after her.

When they reached River Street, she opened the gate leading into the yard and beckoned17 to him.

“I can’t take you in the house,” she said, in a[194] low voice, as he followed her. “My grandmother is ill, and then our house is very clean.”

“And I am very unclean,” he said, jocularly surveying himself, “though I’m by no means as bad as an ash-heap tramp.”

“But I’ll put you into the shed,” continued Berty. “There are only a few guinea-pigs there. They are quiet little things, and won’t hurt you.”

“I hope you won’t give me husks for supper,” murmured the tramp.

Berty eyed him severely18. His condition to her was too serious for jesting, and she by no means approved of his attempts at humour.

“I’ll bring you out something to eat,” she said, “and if you want to stay all night, I’ll drag you out a mattress19.”

“I accept your offer with thankfulness, lady,” he replied.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 ripening 5dd8bc8ecf0afaf8c375591e7d121c56     
v.成熟,使熟( ripen的现在分词 );熟化;熟成
参考例句:
  • The corn is blossoming [ripening]. 玉米正在开花[成熟]。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • When the summer crop is ripening, the autumn crop has to be sowed. 夏季作物成熟时,就得播种秋季作物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
2 shuffling 03b785186d0322e5a1a31c105fc534ee     
adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式
参考例句:
  • Don't go shuffling along as if you were dead. 别像个死人似地拖着脚走。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • Some one was shuffling by on the sidewalk. 外面的人行道上有人拖着脚走过。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
3 whining whining     
n. 抱怨,牢骚 v. 哭诉,发牢骚
参考例句:
  • That's the way with you whining, puny, pitiful players. 你们这种又爱哭、又软弱、又可怜的赌棍就是这样。
  • The dog sat outside the door whining (to be let in). 那条狗坐在门外狺狺叫着(要进来)。
4 promptly LRMxm     
adv.及时地,敏捷地
参考例句:
  • He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
  • She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。
5 whiningly 4920e6a2394e868f9d2c64a32851077b     
参考例句:
  • The boards creaked whiningly beneath their feet. 木板在他们脚下吱吱作响。 来自互联网
6 persistently MlzztP     
ad.坚持地;固执地
参考例句:
  • He persistently asserted his right to a share in the heritage. 他始终声称他有分享那笔遗产的权利。
  • She persistently asserted her opinions. 她果断地说出了自己的意见。
7 considerably 0YWyQ     
adv.极大地;相当大地;在很大程度上
参考例句:
  • The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
  • The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。
8 fiery ElEye     
adj.燃烧着的,火红的;暴躁的;激烈的
参考例句:
  • She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
  • His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。
9 haughtily haughtily     
adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地
参考例句:
  • She carries herself haughtily. 她举止傲慢。
  • Haughtily, he stalked out onto the second floor where I was standing. 他傲然跨出电梯,走到二楼,我刚好站在那儿。
10 battered NyezEM     
adj.磨损的;v.连续猛击;磨损
参考例句:
  • He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
  • The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。
11 propped 557c00b5b2517b407d1d2ef6ba321b0e     
支撑,支持,维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He sat propped up in the bed by pillows. 他靠着枕头坐在床上。
  • This fence should be propped up. 这栅栏该用东西支一支。
12 harry heBxS     
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼
参考例句:
  • Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天,人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
  • Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。
13 miserable g18yk     
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的
参考例句:
  • It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他,这是可耻的。
  • Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。
14 curiously 3v0zIc     
adv.有求知欲地;好问地;奇特地
参考例句:
  • He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
  • He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。
15 musingly ddec53b7ea68b079ee6cb62ac6c95bf9     
adv.沉思地,冥想地
参考例句:
16 wheedlingly b4577ea9f84db3b32d11dedf5a5e9d24     
用甜言蜜语哄骗
参考例句:
17 beckoned b70f83e57673dfe30be1c577dd8520bc     
v.(用头或手的动作)示意,召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He beckoned to the waiter to bring the bill. 他招手示意服务生把账单送过来。
  • The seated figure in the corner beckoned me over. 那个坐在角落里的人向我招手让我过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
18 severely SiCzmk     
adv.严格地;严厉地;非常恶劣地
参考例句:
  • He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
  • He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。
19 mattress Z7wzi     
n.床垫,床褥
参考例句:
  • The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
  • The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。


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